Lincoln’s Ho, Orteza claim section tennis title in mixed doubles

CourtesyLincoln High's Jeremy Orteza and Jessica Ho after winning a section title in tennis last week.

Lincoln High senior Jeremy Orteza and junior Jessica Ho won the Sac-Joaquin Section, Division III tennis championship in mixed doubles on May 13 at Oak Park in Stockton.
Orteza and Ho received a bye in the first round as they were seeded No. 1 in the tournament.
They beat a pair from Highlands in their first match (6-3, 7-5) and then took down a tough team from Rio Linda (6-1, 7-6).
The Lincoln pair led 4-1 in the second set but Rio Linda’s Devon Golez and Lyuba Vosher came back to tie it at 4-4.
Lincoln eventually won a tiebreaker to claim the second set.
This victory put Ho and Orteza into the finals against Justin Witt and Carissa Millanes of Colfax.
Lincoln defeated this same duo to win the Pioneer Valley League a week earlier.
Lincoln won this match 7-5, 6-2 to claim the section title.
This was the final match of what was an impressive high-school career for Orteza.
“This was a great way to finish my senior year,” Orteza said.
“I didn’t play doubles all year, so this was a tough challenge, but coach (Tim) Allen helped me a lot with my net game. Jessica was an amazing partner and I knew I could always count on her.”
Ho won a section championship last year as well as she teamed with Sarah Bietz to win the doubles title.
“It was awesome to win sections again,” Ho said. “I had a lot of fun playing mixed this year with Jeremy, and he kept pushing me on every point. My volleys improved a lot this year, so that helped me too. Hopefully next year I will make it in singles.”
Ho finished the Pioneer Valley League season 11-2 and she was voted the MVP of the league.
Orteza was voted all-league by the coaches for the third consecutive year.